Mannerisms

Intel About To Try ASSPs

2008-07-24T14:02:15Z

Today Intel is, apparently, going to announce its entry into the ASSP business, except that it has decided to call its ASSP products SOCs. But, although these products aren't being sold yet, Intel's description of its SOCs makes them sound like ASSPs which perform similar functions to ASSPs and, therefore, probably are ASSPs.

Transitron Removes Plastic/Ceramic Price Differential

2008-07-24T13:50:51Z

'Plastic v Ceramic'

'Boys, you can stop fighting'.

'Transitron have removed the price decision on Series 74TTL.'

Will Nokia Buy Chips From Qualcomm?

2008-07-24T09:59:14Z

Now that Nokia and Qualcomm have settled their lawsuit, the question arises: Will Nokia buy chip-sets from Qualcomm?

No Margin In MIDs, says Fujitsu

2008-07-24T03:52:48Z

The MID, the kind of Asus Eee, ultra-mobile laptop for which Intel is positioning the Atom processor, is a product which has no margin, a Fujitsu manager tells the New York Times.

World's Energy Problem Solved

2008-07-23T13:48:29Z

I solved the energy problem some years ago in the bath. You roof over part of an African country with solar panels. The locals get shade. The world gets energy. Now the EC has pinched the idea.

For Corporate Jaunts Try Somerset

2008-07-23T12:36:25Z

Now it's the season of corporate jaunts, why not Somerset? Instead of airports, being crammed into aluminium tubes and queues for car hire, you can toddle down the A303 or A30, or take a two hour and a half hour train ride from Waterloo to Yeovil, and be in a brand new room with a floor to ceiling window looking over, arguably, the best view in England.

www.cowshedretreat.co.uk takes parties of up to 30. The accommodation is very modern and stylish and high-tech with WiFi, iPod docks etc. The sheets are Egyptian cotton. The apartments are on two floors. It opened in May after being purpose-built.

In front of the apartments is a lake for fishing and beyond that a clay pigeon shooting range. Both are for residents.

Check out the brochure on http://www.cowshedretreat.co.uk

The Ten Most Stupid Remarks Of The Year

2008-07-23T00:12:05Z

Anyone who writes in asking who made these remarks will get added in at No.11. Here they are, the ten most stupid remarks of the year.

Grand Aspirations At XMOS

2008-07-22T13:45:15Z

It's good to see start-ups doing something dramatic. So many do incremental stuff - 30 per cent more performance, 30 per cent less power etc. Grand aspirations were what the semiconductor industry used to be about.

Put Up Or Shut Up On 450mm

2008-07-22T02:40:09Z

There seems to be a schism opening up between the semiconductor industry and the semiconductor production equipment industry.

IBM vs The Rest Of The World

2008-07-21T05:05:23Z

'Recent observers to the seething melting pot that is the European computer scene, are a delegation of 14 Japanese computer technologists'.

So starts a story in Electronics Weekly's edition of July 2^nd 1969.

NXP Makes An Ass Of Itself

2008-07-21T04:30:12Z

NXP appears to have made an ass of itself in taking to court a group of researchers from the Radboud University at Nijmegen who cracked the security on the company's RFID chips. A Dutch judge has refused NXP's request for an injunction preventing the researchers revealing their findings.

Designing The Microprocessor, By Masatoshi Shima

2008-07-18T13:46:41Z

Last Friday July 11th Ted Hoff told the story of how the first microprocessor was invented. This week, Masatoshi Shima of Busicom, tells how it was designed.

Mobile Apps Are 'Balls-Achingly Difficult', says Motorola.

2008-07-18T02:03:31Z

Utility > effort + risk, where: utility = willingness to pay; & effort = everyone's effort, is the equation devised by Steve Baker, Director of Software Platform Strategy at Motorola, for deciding whether a mobile phone application is worth doing.

Japanese Pioneer The Handset Novel

2008-07-17T13:45:52Z

The Japanese, those dedicated early adopters of new technology and devotees of the 17-syllable Haiku, have apparently become very enthused about reading short stories on their mobile phone handsets.

Has Intel Evolved Since Noyce?

2008-07-17T00:38:05Z

An interesting piece on the US news site Marketwatch by Douglas McIntyre, argues that "Intel's main business has not evolved much since Noyce died." Bob Noyce, co-inventor of the IC, co-founded both Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, and was the founding CEO of both companies. He died in 1990.